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When Did You Start Weaning?

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

We are on to round two of weaning in our household and although I am changing our tactics slightly 2nd time around with Alex (compared to how I did it with D) the principles are the same. We all just want our babies to eat good food and be healthy.

I thought I would share some of the information that is out there to "help" us out and put my little spin on it where I can.

So, all UK Health Departments and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend babies are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life, and continue to receive breast milk throughout the first year and for as long after that as mum and baby want to continue. Obviously there are substitutes out there in the way of formula. I am in no way saying that ALL babies should be breastfed, this is a personal choice in my opinion and lots of things come into play here for each individual baby. But I thought it good to share what the health professionals say.

They also then go on to say babies are rarely developmentally ready for solid food before about six months of age. I waited for six months with Daisy but actually started a little earlier with Alex. My reasoning was that he was a big baby, he would fuss when he saw us with food and would cause a scene, he would grab hold of food out of our hands and get excited when he saw a spoon/ fork etc. I tested him with a few spoonfuls of porridge and he gulped it down, there was no pushing the spoon away, no spitting out or anything. When I say I weaned him early, what I really mean is by a few weeks. Nothing drastic.

One thing I find really confusing when looking at weaning is why do baby foods state from 4 months etc on their labels when the guidelines state 6 months? It is a bit contradictory and can cause some real confusion I think in parents that may be weaning for the first time.

An example would be the Organix stage 1 fruit pots and cereals, they were previously labelled as suitable from 4 months+ and while babies can safely eat some foods at this age, Organix thinks it makes sense to support families in line with national guidance so that they’re not giving mixed messages. This is why they’re changing all the labels on these foods to show they’re suitable from 6 months+.

It will be really interesting to see other brands follow them in this to help support parents with clear and simple labelling that supports the WHO and health department guidelines about when to start introducing solid food.

Again, you have to do what is best for you and your family. If you are not sure you can always contact your health visitor or GP who could help you out. Second time around I feel a little more "qualified" (not in the medical fashion of course!!) to be able to make decisions for my children and feel content in doing that.

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